


dark is the sky

by dearmoonlight



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, blood mentions, day 2: stars, heavily inspired by stardust, rarenstars week, urban fantasy au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25292077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearmoonlight/pseuds/dearmoonlight
Summary: Other children learned about fairytales full of false hopes and empty stories made to reinforce their feelings of companionship and teamwork. At that age, Natsume’s mother was too busy educating him in far more useful subjects.Like spells and magic.(Or: Subaru is a star. Natsume is the witch trying to get his heart, in the most literal possible way. Things work out, somehow.)
Relationships: Akehoshi Subaru/Sakasaki Natsume
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28
Collections: Enstars Rarepair Week





	1. dark is the sky

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "And I love her", from The Beatles. (Bright are the stars, dark is the sky...)

Subaru can feel himself ablaze as he falls.

It’s painful, and that’s a whole new sensation for him. He shines in a way that’s absolutely _wrong_ , ribbons of fire sprouting from his body and licking the atmosphere as he goes down, fast, too fast for him to notice what’s happening, what’s changing, why does it _hurts_ so much. The heat is oppressive, pulsing against his skin, too bright in his eyes, and it’s like it could cook him from the his very insides. The acrid smell of smoke keeps filling his lungs, and Subaru wants to breathe but he won’t, he can’t, and after a few interminable moments of torture and panic he crashes like a blazing inferno to the ground.

Subaru would like to say that his first thought after coming down is of the deep, philosophical kind. He’d prefer it if he could talk about it at some point with pride and at least some sense of achievement, so it’d be nice if his head conjured something like ‘I guess that even the mightiest end up falling’ or ‘Not even between the stars can we find some peace.’

What keeps resounding into his mind, like the blaring alarm of a siren, is a curious mixture between _‘Auch’_ and _‘Why’_ , though.

Subaru curls into himself, as if he could hide from the pain that courses through his whole body in throbbing waves. He tries to breathe, and every inspiration causes a new pang into his raw throat -how much heat did he tried to inhale before his body reacted to the fall, how much longer will he keep hurting? He closes his eyes with all his might, trying to keep the tears from running down his face, and waits.

And he keeps waiting for what feels like a long, long time.

* * *

When Natsume was a child, his mother talked to him about stars.

He remembers, of course - Natsume keeps close to his heart most of his mother’s words, use them both as solace and a source of reliable information. He trust her old teachings way more than any empty text printed in a book. Other children learned about fairytales full of false hopes and empty stories made to reinforce their feelings of companionship and teamwork. At that age, Natsume’s mother was too busy educating him in far more useful subjects.

Like spells and magic.

She made him cut the ingredients, memorize the words and learn the symbols. And Natsume was brilliant from a young age, drinking every single drop of information like it could be the last. And he remembers being tucked into bed, her hands absently playing with a lock of his hair, feeling safe and warm and fuzzy but trying to keep his eyes opens nonetheless as she talked about the stars and their magic.

And his mother said: There’s nothing more powerful than the heart of a star, dear, and rare as they are no witch or sorcerer would ever think twice before trying to get it by any necessary mean.

Natsume, bordering six years and a half, had asked: Not even you? Because his mother was better than the rest, she was special, she didn’t need to get her hands dirty just for a little bit of power. She laughed in response, and then the memory fades away. But it’s not like it matters, because that was a long time ago. Before she disappeared. Before everything went to hell.

A hypothetical one. Natsume is sure that the actual hell would be kinder to him.

She might have not needed the star, but Natsume does.

He sees it falling over the head of his latest client, a bright trail against the dark of the sky. His heart skips a beat, and then starts running in an excited, quick rhythm.

Because this? This is his chance.

* * *

Even when Subaru starts feeling better, he stays in his place, laying in the crater he created, arms perpendicular to his body and legs stretched. He keeps staring at the night sky, trying to get back there by sheer power of will. But there’s no helping it, and he doesn’t move an inch from his position in the terrible, awful ground of this terrible, awful planet full of uncomfortable hassles like. Like gravity. Or dirt.

He can see the space he left when he fell down. The little point where something is different, where something is missing. It seems so far away, so untouchable for this body made of flesh and bones. Subaru raises a hands, as if he could caress the stars that keep glittering in the sky, and then he frowns slightly.

Why him, honestly.

* * *

Among other things, Natsume knows that he won’t be the only one trying to catch the star. He’s probably the only one with a babylon candle, however, because those type of magical items are almost impossible to get. High demanded and very uncommon is never a good combination.

His mother left one before she went away though, its ivory color contrasting with Natsume’s pale skin, and he has been waiting for the chance to use it.

Natsume waits until is time to close the store. He wasn’t planning staying in this particular town for much, so there’s not an inch of sorrow in his heart when he gets the box of matches out of its drawer. Little villages are good when you’re waiting for a star to fall, because the sky is seen easily -but he misses the crowded streets of Tokyo, the energy floating in the atmosphere of the magic market, the constant flood of clients and news and special items. 

Natsume lights up the candle. A burning sensation inundate his whole being as he sets his mind in the memory of the falling star, and a flash of sheer power consumes him. And then- he’s gone, just a slight trail of smoke left behind him.

* * *

He thinks nothing could be worse than this, fallen and lost and alone in a world that is not, will never be, his. Subaru has just sit down, hair disheveled and leg sending pang after pang of pain running through his body, when something crash into him. _Hard_.

Subaru falls again, head slamming against the ground as he gasp. He wonders if the universe is out to get him, because there has to be a limit for how much bad luck can a single creature accumulate.

Subaru has closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact. He opens them again, trying to blink the pain away. And what he sees is a boy, in his hands and knees, looking at him like he’s the most interesting thing in the whole world. It might sound alluring, but it’s not. His gaze is analytical, almost clinical. Subaru has never been to the doctor, but it's probably something akin to this - he feels naked. 

He takes in the air that was knocked out his lungs with the crash. The stranger smiles. Slowly. Somehow, Subaru feels like a mouse facing a very cunning cat.

“I think” the stranger he says, just as he gets up. His eyes are bright. Amber and gold. Subaru likes gold, because it glitters. Like a little star. Almost as pretty, too. “that you are just what I wished fOR.”

“What?” Subaru asks, because there's nothing else that he can think of saying. He winces slightly when he places weight in his wrist as he sits up. The fall has left him bruised and hurt and slightly scratched, but the fact that he still feels pain means that he’s alive and breathing. Which is good, he guesses. It means he still has a chance to go back.

There’s not much pain in the sky. It becomes a constant reminder of his current situation, awakening a feeling of helplessness in the pit of his belly.

“I promised my mommy that I would show her a star, sEE.” He’s taking off his black jacket, dark against the ivory of his skin. And Subaru is mesmerized by the wave of perfume that hits against his nose when he reaches out a hand, offering him the piece of clothing. His fingers close around the cloth, still warm from the boy’s body heat.

Subaru knows that it’s cold, and that he’s wearing only an sleeveless shirt (and a pair of pants. Thank the universe, because it seems like the magic has somehow some modesty to spare). He was feeling cold just a few minutes ago, so it doesn’t make sense for the tip of his ears to feel warm now. 

It takes him a second to fully register what the stranger said, and a sudden flame of aggravation ignites in his chest. It pales in comparision to the fire that engulfed him not so long ago, but it still makes him fidgety. Subaru doesn't like this feeling, whatever it is. He narrows his eyes anyway, fixing the boy with a gaze full of silent accusations.

“So you just want to show me off like a trophy?” he asks. Ignores how soft the jacket is when he puts it on. Keep his expression blank, his voice firm.

Subaru knows, because there’s nothing much to do in the sky except staring down, that humans can be bright and beautiful and full of wonders.

They can also be incredibly cruel, and Subaru will not be one to let himself be fooled. 

“I wish to make your acquitanCE.” the boy’s head leans to the side, a strand of hair caressing his own shoulder. He’d look angelic, if it wasn’t for the sly glint in the pool of gold of his eyes. “And it’d be a relationship of mutual interEST.”

That’s when he reaches into his pocket, and just a second later he pulls out something. A candle. A Babylon candle, halfway burnt already. Maybe one last travel left.

Subaru looks at his chance to go back home, and his breath hitches.

* * *

Most of his magical skills, Natsume learned from his mother.

People still talk about her, sometimes. About Sakasaki-san, the most powerful witch of her generation. About Sakasaki-san, capable enough to summon the most powerful demons of the Old Dimensions. About Sakasaki-san, that fell in love with one and had a child and smiled when people asked about the nature of her baby. About Sakasaki-san, that was betrayed and exiled and lost to the shadows of human nature.

She was his first and best teacher.

Most of his schemes, however, are direct influence of his father.

Natsume always knew what he wanted from him. A special being. Someone with enough power and charisma to lead a whole new era. He whispered sweet nothings against his temple when Natsume was sick, his promises of a better future sounding almost like another feverish dream. And the sickly child grew into a force of nature, too powerful to be contained by the precepts of a society in decomposition.

It’d be stupid, trying to outpower the whole population of the japanese Magical Market. So Natsume decided to outsmart them.

The star doesn’t even suspect anything.

He concedes in accompanying him immediately, once Natsume shows him the candle, all excited smiles and bright eyes. His skin doesn’t shine, though. At least not yet. But Natsume will get there, eventually.

His name is Subaru, he says. And he’d like very much if Natsume could get him to his mother quickly, because there’s a hollow spot in the sky that’s waiting for him to come back. 

Natsume assures him, even if he doesn’t promise it aloud: just a week or so before they reach their destination. Subaru can go back to his lonely sky then. Natsume will even light up the candle for him, if that’s what he needs.

He doesn’t tell Subaru, but at this point he’s pretty sure that the hunting has started. Probably any sorcerer that saw the star fall is now looking for him. And so, Natsume makes sure that their trail cannot be followed. Puts his better spells and charms at use, chooses the less traveled road, and keeps moving forward as fast as he can, even if that implies letting Subaru lean his body weight against him as he slightly limps all the way to the nearest road, where Natsume can finally get his phone out his pocket and call for a taxi.

Avoiding the magical urban centers implies that he can’t travel by portals. Good thing he has more than enough money saved to ensure them a safe travel by public transport.

For all his complaining about falling, Subaru seems like an overly excited puppy. He keeps asking about every little thing that surrounds them, pleading Natsume to let him take a look here and there when something catches his eye.

They have a week left of travelling before they get to their destination. The first day Subaru, an endless ball of energy, keeps trying to get more details about Natsume’s life, or about the forest they are passing by, or about the place they’re going to, or about Earth’s traditions, or about the clothes that Natsume buys for him. Or, or, or.

Natsume ponders the idea of cursing him, just to shut him up. He refrains, if only barely. Repeats to himself once, then twice, that his star needs to be happy. Natsume really has to grow closer to him, lure him into a sense of security and familiarity. So he forces a smile and does his best not to snap at Subaru when he keeps tugging at his hand to point literally everything and anything. He's too friendly for his own good. In less that twenty hours, Natsume has seen him make small talk with at least fifteen people.

Subaru chooses a nickname for all of them, but keeps calling him "Natsume". Which is unacceptable. But he'll get to it, eventually. They have time. Their vehicle of choice's schedule, however, is immovable. They end up almost sprinting through the station, because _someone_ spends too much time talking to the owner of a little bakery across the street.

When he first saw Subaru, he thought of him as the sky made into flesh. Hair the color of twilight, eyes blue as the morning. Not even the dirt and the few visible scratches in his skin could rob him of the dignity of his appearance. 

By morning, however, Natsume thinks of him as nothing but an utterly hopeless _idiot_.

Subaru falls asleep the second they sit down in the bus, and not even a minute after that his head ends up falling right against Natsume’s shoulder. 

Of course, he drools when he sleeps.

* * *

The second day, Subaru insist on them trying ramen. And then ice-cream. And then melon bread. By the time they get into their second bus, he’s soundly slurping through the straw of his bubble tea. 

They have been on the road for less than fifteen minutes when a little girl starts crying. Subaru turns in his seat, ignoring Natsume whispered warning. He starts talking to her without a care in the world, tone light and smile blinding. 

The girl is laughing within five minutes.

Natsume leans his head against the window, and he sighs in frustration.

  
  


(Later, when the sun has drowned behind the horizon and the passengers are silent, surrounded by the dim lights of the bus and the slow breathing of the sleeping girl behind them, Subaru says “I like it when people smile.” and then, even lower. “It makes them shine, doesn’t it?”)

* * *

They have to stay in an inn for one night. Subaru hums softly the whole time, and he throws himself into the bed with hair still damp from his bath and a smile painted into his face. A soft glow comes off his skin and reflects gently into the window.

Natsume hearts flutter at the sight.

Everything is going according to the plan, then.

Subaru is not glowing by the next day, but he’s still smiling when he clings to Natsume’s arm and talks to him about the crime drama he got to watch in the hotel’s television. 

They travel by train this time, and Natsume offers him his phone, streaming service ready and the first episode of the show already playing. He thought that would be enough to keep him silent. A beginner’s mistake, really.

Subaru leans into his body, arm against his own. That alone would be enough to annoy him, and Natsume feels himself tense at the touch. However, and not happy with only that, Subaru keeps talking about the show. All the time. Natsume, who was trying to read, needs a whole hour to end the first chapter of his book.

He closes it with a dull _thud_ , and turns his head slightly to glare at Subaru, who’s looking at him with those big puppy eyes of his.

“If you’re going to tell me the whole pLOT.” Natsume says, trying to keep the annoyance off his voice. Probably failing. “You might as well lend me an earbud and let me WATCH.”

He expected Subaru to turn down the offer, because the train is noisy and he would probably have problems hearing the show himself with a single earbud. What he couldn’t anticipate was for him to smile, joyful as a child, and literally dig the thing into his ear himself (with too much enthusiasm. Natsume winces at the little pang of pain, but he doesn’t comment on it.)

He’d admit, albeit reluctantly, that the show is not half bad. Subaru ends up wrapping him in a petty competition to see who can guess the killer first.

Surprisingly, Natsume loses.

  
  


That night, he dreams.

He dreams of his mother, who’s humming silently as she draws a card from her tarot deck. Natsume is not in front of her, just peeking over the edge of the table, small as he hasn’t been for years. And he can barely see the card, but the whisper of his mother resonates in the vacuum of the dream, hovering over his ears. “ _The tower_ ”, she says. It sounds like a warning.

And then the floor disappears under his feet, and Natsume is falling down into the pits of the sky, into the tranquil surface of the moon. He draws in a breath, afraid of drowning in its silver. The moon has no ill intentions, however, because what comes to his encounter are just words that feel like soft ribbons of light against his skin. “ _Please_ ”, it says, sounding just like his own mother. “ _Take care of my child. Protect him. They mean him harm._ ” And maybe the moon would have wanted to tell him more, but there’s no time for that. Because Natsume rises (or maybe it’s now when he’s falling.) to the earth, and the moon is lost into the deeps of the water below him. Natsume follows, the cold engulfs him, and it’s now when he can’t breathe, he can’t-

That’s when he becomes aware of the blade against his throat. 

See, that’s the thing about spending too much time surrounded by magic. You check your defensive spells and charms at least thrice a day, make sure that you won’t get cursed from a distance, give a childhood memory in exchange for a fairy protection. And forget about the very existence of knifes.

Natsume raises both eyebrows, looking up to his attacker. He almost expects to find a pair of blue eyes and striking orange hair. No one said, after all, that stars have to be merciful. And of course Subaru would get tired of waiting, would try to kill him to get the candle for himself. What a pity, he thinks as his heart squeezes itself between his ribcage. What a pity, because the heart of a delighted star is always more powerful that one full of fear. 

(What a pity, something inside of him whispers, because he was really growing accustomed to that frustrating attitude of his.)

But Subaru is not the one holding a knife to his throat.

Natsume looks into the green gaze of the person above him. Out the corner of his eye, he can catch a glimpse of Subaru. His terrified expression is half-hidden by a strand of hazel hair hovering over him. Natsume clenches his fist at the realization.

Two enemies. The one above him is a sorcerer, no doubt. The other is a damn futakuchi onna, which always means troubles. Natsume tries to struggle slightly, and the knife hovering over his throat goes up, until its blade is pressing against his lips.

“Try to talk” whispers the woman keeping him down. “And I’ll cut off your tongue, witch.”

Natsume keeps his mouth shut for exactly three seconds. Which is what he needs to become aware of the trembling pulse of the stranger.

“How did you find us?” he whispers, voice sweet as aconite flower. 

“She told you to shut up.” says the second woman, just as another voice chirps in (tone like nails scratching glass, reverbering into the insides of Natsume’s skull.)

“Do you really think you’re powerful enough to hide from fae magic, boy?” It laughs. Natsume is glad to know that the futakuchi’s second mouth likes to brag, because it always makes it easier to get the information he needs. He’s sure he’ll have a headache in no time, though. “You witches are always _sooo_ stupid.” 

“Fae magic always has a high priCE.” Natsume flashes a smile to the one with the knife, like she’s the only one in the room. “How much did you lost to find us, kitTEN?”

The girl lets out a frustrated growl. Her grip on the knife tightens, and Natsume thinks it’s almost cute. She really thinks her determination is strong enough to do this, that her greediness has reached a point where she’s willing to use any method to get her way. It has not. Her hand is still shaking, she’s averting his gaze, and her voice is too high, too nervous. A good person is never fit to catch a fallen star. 

Natsume is not afraid of her.

The other woman, however, is a nuisance. 

“Why do you want a star so baDLY?” Natsume keeps talking, voice dripping with honey. The girl is still not meeting his eyes. “What could you possibly want that mUCH? 

He hears Subaru struggling, but refuses to look in his direction, gaze still fixed on the girl. She’s close to tears now, lips pressed in a thin, white line. Probably close to breaking down, too. Power might seem desirable from a distance, but its weight is too heavy for such feeble shoulders. 

Her determination might be weak, but Natsume’s is not.

He smiles, not a hint of malice tainting the gesture. 

Then he goes for the kill.

* * *

Subaru was not expecting it. 

He doesn’t even even hear more than a distant, intelligible whisper, maybe a single word. But he can feel it, deep in his belly - the magic filling the atmosphere, too much for such a little room, energy vibrating and swirling into itself, concentrating and struggling to break free of Natsume’s control. The spell needs less than a second, not even enough time for Subaru to blink, much less for the strangers to react. 

The magic finds and out, and it explodes against the futakuchi’s chest, sending her flying back. Straight to the mirror. Subaru can hear the glass breaking, the deaf sound of her head slamming into it. The other mouth lets out a high screech that drills into his very brain, sending a wave of pain across his whole body. For a moment, he thinks his eyeballs are going to pop off his skull, that his brain is going to drip through his ears. But the pain subsides in a moment, and Subaru finds himself free from the hair that was restraining his movements.

He gets up immediately, fighting the dizziness and the nausea to turn to Natsume. 

He’s trying to get the other sorcerer off him. Subaru hands hover over them as they roll off the bed and into the ground. She’s pulling at his hair as spells go back and forth between them, slamming against magical barriers. It’d be almost funny, if it wasn’t for the adrenaline and the fear. A lamp explodes at his left. An storm is raging behind the window. Natsume’s eyes shine gold in the dim light of the room, and Subaru thinks that he should have won already. His magic is electrifying, so intense that it physically tickles against Subaru’s skin. He can’t even feel a glimpse of hers, like a drop in the middle of the ocean that is Natsume’s power. 

That’s the moment she chooses to scream a word that Subaru can’t recognize. It’s and old language that weights the whole atmosphere down for a second, makes it hard to breathe, to think over the buzzing that settles into his ears - and then black flames start to lick at the curtains, at the bed, almost at Subaru’s skin. They feel somehow ancient, old as the stars. That’s when he remembers what they said before.

Stupid fae magic, he thinks. And kicks her in the chest. 

She wasn’t expecting it. It sends her into her side with a grunt, and she doubles into herself. Natsume looks up to him - eyes still bright with magic, expression startled. The flames create shadows into his skin, making him seem ethereal. As if he’s the one that fell from the sky.

Subaru would think of him as beautiful, if it wasn’t for the knife sticking out his stomach.

He drops to his knees, hands already reaching for him. There’s an arm supporting his back when Natsume struggles to sit down, breathing hard. Subaru says his name out loud, holds him close. Doesn’t cry, because it wouldn’t do any good, wouldn’t be of any help. 

“I knew she wouldn’t kill mE.” he says. And grins, the fucking idiot. Subaru would appreciate the positive attitude, if he wasn’t bleeding out into his arms.

“Well, from where I’m standing, she definitely did _try_!”

The stranger is starting to get up. She’s having troubles breathing, but the flames come to her when she whispers something under her breath - and they are kind to her master. Subaru sees how they kiss her arms, cling to her shoulders like a warm lover. She’s probably going to attack again.

Natsume grits his teeth when he tries to move. If the sorcerer really didn’t try to kill them before, she’s definitely going to do her best know. Subaru’s grip tightens, an arm wrapping securely around his waist.

 _Come here_ , Subaru thinks, bordering on vicious. _Come here and try to touch him again, if you dare. I’ll…_

“Baru-kUN.” Natsume whispers, voice hoarse. Subaru turns his face to him, just for a second. His skin is pale. Too pale for the heat that’s surrounding them, too pale to be healthy. Subaru has never seen a corpse, but he’s pretty sure that- “Close your eyes and think of homE.”

Subaru opens his mouth to ask what exactly does he mean, but there’s no time for him to open his lips. Natsume takes his hand out his pocket, holding what’s left of the Babylon candle. Subaru is torn between confusion and relief, but he clings closer to him nonetheless.

Natsume sticks the candle into the black flames.

The sorcerer scream follows them for a good two seconds. And then they’re too far away to hear it.

  
  
  


When Subaru opens his eyes again, they’re kneeling into the wooden planks of a ship’s deck, and rain is falling upon them as wind whips against their skin, their hair. Subaru tries to blink the water away, focusing on their surroundings - and he finds only sky and clouds. He hears someone yell across the storm.

Oh. So he didn’t make it completely home.

“What” Natsume breathes, and Subaru listens. “Did you dO?”

“I thought of home!” Subaru hollers over the blow of the wind. That’s when it hits him, and his voice turns into an accusation. “What did _you_ do?” 

Natsume sighs. He seems so, so tired. There’s still a knife into his intestines, which is not known for brighten anyone’s mood, so Subaru can’t blame him. 

“I thougHT” Is amazing that Subaru can hear him over the storm at all, honestly. Natsume’s right hand is gripping his forearm. The left is hanging from his side, useless, burned. The candle has completely consumed into it, but the remains of wax seem almost embedded into his skin. “of home, TOO.” 

That’s the moment he chooses to lose conscience.


	2. bright are the stars

Natsume wakes up, and Subaru is waiting for him.

He is curled up in the chair by the bed, breathing in slow, calmed motions. His lashes create a long shadow against his cheeks, like a gentle caress. And, seeing him all peaceful, Natsume can almost forget how annoying he is when he’s awake.

Of course, that's the moment Subaru chooses to open his eyes and scream his name. He doesn’t even miss a beat before throwing himself all over Natsume, making his head slam back against the pillow. Subaru is saying something, but Natsume is too busy trying to get him off him to register what is he exactly talking about. The damn star is warm all over, and his lips flutter against the skin of his neck as he goes on, rambling about storms and magic and _they are very nice, Natsume, I’m sure you’d like them-_

Which makes him immediately suspicious, because gods know he’s not very prone to like anyone in the first place.

His hand finds a place in the small of Subaru’s back, in what he expects to be a warning touch. _Shut up_ , Natsume thinks, but doesn’t say a thing. Subaru keeps his rambling, and he closes his eyes in surrender for a few seconds before pinching him.

Subaru jumps. Natsume tries not to look too cocky. For a second, the other boy looks almost affronted, wrinkles in his forehead and a pout in his lips. His expressions softens immediately after, though, and then one of his hands is looking for Natsume’s, fingers interlocking together.

Subaru’s warmth is almost imperceptible through the bandages. Natsume finds himself squeezing it slightly, if only to make sure that his fingers still respond. It sends a pang of pain across his arm, up his shoulder until it dissolves into his chest.

“You saved me” Subaru says, and he sounds so, so full of wonder. Natsume doesn’t avert his eyes, even if he’s tempted to.

He saved his life.

He’s gonna take it, too.

“I think you’re forgetting the fact that I saved myself in the procESS” He says, and Subaru shakes his head, orange locks waving with the motion. His skin glows softly, a silent statement that he doesn’t need to voice. His light makes Natsume’s shadow grow larger in the wall. 

“You took care of me first, though?” Subaru whispers, as much as he’s capable of -which means that it still sounds too loud in the little room, in Natsume’s head. He’s so, so close. All consuming, gravity-pulling. A whole damn sun over him. “Natsume, I-”

The door slams open, a silhouette against the light. Natsume pushes Subaru away, ignoring his yelp when he falls into the floor, too busy calling upon his own magic, power under his tongue and tingling uncomfortably under his injured fingers, getting ready to face-

(He kind of wants to throw himself into the void.)

“WhaT” he says, slowly “are you doing hERE?”

Leo Tsukinaga doesn’t even bother to answer. Of course he doesn’t.

“Hey, Mama!” he calls upon his shoulder instead. “He’s awake!”

(The option of jumping from the skyship is still on the table, he guesses).

* * *

“I trust them, Natsume!”

“Because you’re an idiOT”

Subaru frowns, but his glow doesn’t fade away for a second. Natsume wishes it would, even if there’s no point to that. Tsukinaga might be an airhead, but he’s not stupid. And even if he was, Mikejima has probably noticed by now. Natsume wonders silently if they’ll let them go - probably not. The heart of a star is priceless as a magic item, and they are - bandits? Sky pirates? It sounds ridiculous, almost insulting to his very pride. Two of the most powerful individuals of the whole damn market, and what have been of them?

“So, so!” Leo chirps, letting himself fall into the floor besides Subaru, all excited eyes and disheveled hair badly tied into a ponytail. “Will you take me to the sky, when you go back? I was there once, you know! Met an alien and everything!”

Subaru leans back on his hands, eyebrows arched. Natsume rolls his eyes.

“Are you that desperate for running awaY, that you’d choose space over your own hoME?” he asks, sweet voice barely concealing the poison that lurks behind it. “Were your coven that worthlESS?”

Leo doesn’t seem to pick up on the insult. He just hums, sounding almost pensive, as if he’s seriously considering his words. He shakes his head in a negative then, fingers tapping rhythmically against his own knee. There’s a shadow threatening to devour the light of his eyes.

“Of course not! But those guys are better without me, you know?” he lets himself fall forward, and starts scribbling musical notes into the side of Subaru’s boots. Taking into account that they were the one to lend them new clothes, Natsume guesses he can’t complain. “How do you know about them, though?” and then, in a high-pitched scream “Wait! No! Don’t tell me, I’ll guess!”

He taps the pen against his own temple once, then twice, tongue catched between his teeth and a low “hmmm” coming from his throat, making him sound like an overheated motor. Natsume opens his mouth, refusing to allow this nonsense take any more of his time. He doesn’t get the chance to pop Leo’s bubble, though, because suddenly there’s a hand placed upon his shoulder, fingers digging slightly into the skin beneath his jersey.

“Natsume-san used to be a big deal, right!?” Mikejima's voice is cheerful on the surface, but his tone feels like a warning. Natsume finds himself trying to catch his eyes, make sure they’re not bright with power. “Which makes me wonder! What are you doing so far from your home? And travelling with a star, no less!” Natsume tenses. Mikejima has to feel his muscles stiffen under his touch, but he doesn’t show any sign of recognition to his discomfort. “It sounds like a big adventure! Mama is kind of jelaous, you know!”

Subaru slides his feet away from Leo’s hand. He doesn’t seem to mind, starts writing in the deck instead.

“Natsume is taking me to see his mother!” Subaru says, bubbly and happy, as if Natsume’s hadn’t burn his last chance to go back home. He thought he’d have to find another racket. 

Mikejima's staring at him, and Natsume makes his best to seem unbothered by the fact, even when it feels like he’s going to be able to discover _everything_ , read into his very soul. 

“Is he?” Mikejima asks, and Natsume shrugs.

“My mommy is very fond of the sKY, SEE.” he says, with a smile that would look too innocent to be credible if any of them knew the first thing about him. It’s not the case, however. “She has always wanted to meet a sTAR, but they’re pretty raRE.”

“And pretty dangerous” Mikejima adds. Leo is humming under his breath, and Natsume does his best to tone him out. He knows what his music can do. “Did he tell you what happened when our healer was trying to patch you up?”

Natsume looks at Subaru, who is suddenly very occupied with a loose string in the sleeve of his jacket. He’s blushing, red almost imperceptible with the glow of his body.

“He didn’t deem it as importanT, it seems.”

“Oh, oh!” Leo’s head suddenly snaps back, song suddenly forgotten. He points at Subaru with his pen, a grin that seems almost crazy painted into his thin lips. “He said he wanted to help! And he touched the wizard with sparkly hands, and suddenly it was like. Like _boom_!”

“I’d say I didn’t “ _boom_ ”, mySELF.”

“Nah, not you” Mikejima's hand finally leave his shoulder. Natsume takes the chance to get a little away from him and closer to Subaru, who makes a move to touch him. He seems to think better of it when Natsume glares his way. “The wound healed in a second, but our wizard couldn’t deal with the excess of magic. He exploded a window trying to control it.”

“It was only for a second!” Subaru intercedes, voice indignant. “I thought he could handle it! But then he didn’t dare to work with your hand after that, so!” He throws his hands up, in what could almost qualified as distress. 

Tsukinaga gets in his knees, and he crawls up to him. Subaru, not one to know the meaning of personal space, doesn’t lean back even when their noses are almost touching. Tsukinaga’s eyes shine green for a second.

“Maybe you could fix me!” he says, upbeat and hopeful. There’s a hint of desperation under his tone that doesn’t go unnoticed to Natsume’s ears. Tsukinaga is still smiling, even if his eyes are full of sorrow as he places a hand to the side of Subaru’s neck. “Make me whole again, star, that’s my wish!”

Mikejima says ‘ _Leo-san_ ’ and walks to him. At the same time, Natsume’s raises his hand to get Tsukinaga’s away from Subaru’s skin, trying to ignore the flare of annoyance that burns through his chest.

“This star has already fallEN” he says. Subaru’s eyes seem suddenly mournful, lips half-parted. His fingers twitch once, and Natsume places his own hand over them, silently dissuading him of touching Tsukinaga. “And he’s busy working on my wISH.” 

“Eeeh?” Tsukinaga leans into Mikejima when he gets close enough, and a pout form in his lips. He seems like a child who has been told that there will be no cookies for him until he eats all his vegetables. More like a brat, less like a king fallen into disgrace.

Natsume looks at Subaru from the corner of his eye, trying to decipher what’s crossing his mind now. His eyes are fixed on Tsukinaga, full of curiosity. As if the other boy’s just a puzzle.

His skin, however, has stopped shining.

* * *

“Why is he so sad?” Subaru whispers at him later, much later, when Tsukinaga and Mikejima are off somewhere working with the crew and they’re holed up into a room that’s too nice to be called and cell but too little to be anything else.

“The war was not kind to anyONE.” Natsume says, and considers that the explanation is more than enough. Subaru ponders his words for a few seconds, lips pressed in a line that’s almost offended - not at him. At Tsukinaga, maybe.

“Wouldn’t he feel better if he was sparkling?” he says, and Natsume can’t help but arch an eyebrow.

He wonders if there’s sadness where Subaru comes from, or if that answer is something he acquired by his own experiences. What do the stars feel, in the vast nothing of the night sky?

“You’re not glowing eiTHER” is what he answers instead. 

Subaru looks at his own hands, eyes big and round in surprise. He doesn’t look like he had noticed the fact.

“Oh!” he says, fingers closing around the darkness of the room. “You’re right.”

Natsume doesn’t bother to add anything else after that.

* * *

Tsukinaga’s magic is made of music.

Maybe it would be better to say that Tsukinaga’s magic _is_ music itself. He doesn’t need spells or ingredients or old pacts. Some would maybe envy him, but Natsume knows better: His power, as intense as it is, is unstable and dangerous and a burden too heavy for such a fragile figure. It consumes his mind and his emotions and his very own life, and there’s something very noble in the way Mikejima stays a constant presence at his side when he probably knows that there’s no fixing him.

However, Tsukinaga’s magic is also beautiful and gentle in a way that no one else’s could ever aspire to. 

He was touched by a goddess, after all. Her mark shine as bright as his eyes when he plays, and Natsume wonders if that’s exactly what makes him so unsteady in the first place: the fact that the power was bestowed upon him, once upon a time, instead of intermingling with his whole being from the womb.

(To what extent does one change after that? Would Natsume be the same, if not for his magic, for his parents?)

He still doesn’t know how did Tsukinaga end up here. He already knows what they’re doing, from excerpts of conversations and what the crew told Subaru - who, apparently, has a gift to make friends, even when said friends are scared shitless by the fact that he seems to be an endless battery of magic ready to make any of them overcharge at any given second. 

Storm hunters.

Lightning is a very rare ingredient that reaches high prices in any magic market of the world, after all. But harvesting it is both incredibly dangerous and incredibly illegal, especially since the Tenshouin government put their filthy hands over the japanese magical society and started to mold them by their standards. He wonders how long will it take until they’re found and incarcerated.

Natsume doesn’t plan to stick around to find out.

Subaru, however, is clearly having fun, if the way he’s dancing around is anything to tell by. Tsukinaga’s been singing and clapping to an upbeat song for the last ten minutes, and is amazing how the whole crew has gotten into it. Subaru gets into the captain’s arms, and she makes him twirl around until he softly collides with another member’s chest. He takes both his hands, moving in tune with the song. Mikejima is playing the violin, eyes closed and a smile plastered to his face.

Natsume tries to withdraw from the scene little by little, sure that soon he’ll be crossing the door to their little room. He can feel Leo’s magic in the atmosphere - and, even as weakened as it is by his psychological state, there’s an undeniable power in it. It tugs and pulls at Natsume like a tide, a constant lullaby in his ear, prompting his body to move without his permission. It pulses in his veins and in his temples and in each blink he takes. Intoxicating, if he had to choose a word for it.

Of course, Subaru notices his tactical retreat. He dashes to his side, throws both arms around his neck. The inertia of the motion sends Natsume two steps back, and he encircles his waist in an attempt to stabilize them. 

“Natsume!” Subaru whines, voice high into his ear. “Dance with me, won’t you?”

“I’m afraid I’m not one to like the audiENCE.” Natsume lies. What is a fortuneteller, if not a magic performer? But Subaru doesn’t need to know that, and he prefers to maintain himself a mystery to Mikejima’s eyes.

Subaru, of course, is relentless.

“Are you shy, Natsume? You don’t have to! I’ll lead!”

Natsume sighs. He tries to take a step back, but Subaru is stuck like a specially clingy kind of octopus.

“That has little to do with it, Baru-KUN.”

Subaru has taken advantage of the little seconds of their conversation to rock them back and forth faintly, and it’s starting to add to Tsukinaga’s magic, making him feel dizzy.

“Everyone likes dancing!” Subaru sing-songs. If someone could put a star symbol on a quote said aloud, he would have. “Even if it’s just for a bit!”

“Tsukinaga-senpaI’s magic is probably affecting YOU” Natsume says, even as he lets Subaru take his hand and make him twirl. Which is probably not as graceful as it sounds, taking into account that his expression is still deadpan. “He’s manipulating us with mUSIC.”

Subaru laughs. His skin is glowing, contrasting with his outfit - mostly black, jacket, boots, comfortable trousers. He looks like a scoundrel. It should be obvious, taking into account who gave him the clothes to begin with. Natsume got himself a jersey, at least. 

None of the crew members are even looking at them, at least not directly. Natsume wonders how accustomed are they to the paranormal.

“Does it matter, though?” Subaru asks, making them turn once, then twice. This is no proper dance, they’re just moving like children without any rhythm sense. Shu-niisan would have a heart attack, were he to see this. “I’m having fun!”

Natsume’s eyebrows shoot up. There shouldn’t be any fun in being treated like a puppet.

“Maybe I miscalculatED” he says, even as his body follows Subaru’s into another turn. Like a moth draw to a flame, spurred by Tsukinaga’s magic and the boy’s own light. “You might be a fooL, after ALL.”

Subaru’s still smiling, even after the insult. His chest is pressed softly against Natsume’s, and he can feel his respiration into his own skin. For a second, he even forgets about the heart inside his ribcage, too busy trying to ignore the way every puff of air that Subaru’s lets out fan against his nose, his cheeks. It's warm, and is pleasant, and Subaru’s spreading fire to his whole body from the fingers spreaded into his shoulder. 

Natsume doesn’t want to stay like this forever. He has still too much to do.

But maybe for a bit longer.

* * *

There’s only one bed.

Natsume doesn’t know where did his life become such a cliché. He hates it.

Subaru pulls him in after the dance, arms around his neck and a laugh into his shoulder as they fall into the mattress.

(He still drools in his sleep, and presses close to Natsume no matter how many times he pushes him. Is terribly easy to become aware of his heart in the stillness of the night, _thump thump thump thump_. 

Natsume needs to get away of this ship, before it’s too late.)

* * *

They stay for a week, because that’s how far the next port is. Tsukinaga and Mikejima will get down too, they say, and then they’ll keep travelling by sea, to Europe.

Subaru keeps making friends with everyone. When they hit a storm, they even let him help harvesting the lightning (and if that’s not a sight to behold, rain plastering orange locks of hair to his forehead, clothes to his skin, as he laughs and laughs and laughs, excited like a child, bright as the star he is). That’s why they don’t put any troubles with them staying. 

Sometimes, when night comes, Subaru sits on the deck, blue eyes deep as the sky, and he stays for hours gazing lovingly at the stars.

* * *

They get down. Subaru hugs everyone, even Mikejima. Natsume stays two steps back, says his farewell, silently hopes he never sees any of them again. 

They book a room in a hotel. Up in the sky, he didn’t have access to wifi. Now, Natsume makes sure of where exactly are they as Subaru happily munches his pizza. There is something akin to companionship between them now, and Natsume hates it. 

He also hates the fact that he knows _exactly_ where they are. Far away from his original destination. When he lit the candle, he was thinking of home.

Sometimes, home is not somewhere. It is _someone_.

* * *

Wataru Hibiki is always breathtaking upon the stage.

They don’t see the whole play, because their bus arrives to town when it has already started. By the time they make it to the theater, the second act is taking place. But Subaru is glued to his seat, mouth agape and eyes fixed to the figure moving upon the stage.

Natsume has seen him before. That doesn’t make it any less mesmerizing. Wataru gives shape to the character, making it into an entity of its own. And so he moves, and Juliet is born again from Shakaspeare’s words and Wataru’s body, and she grows strong and free until one can’t say who’s the actor, for how long has he been one with the mask, to which extent is he really Juliet, and then- she takes the dagger (“This is thy sheath...there rust, and let me die”). 

she stabs her own chest, and the blood that flood from the wound is real enough to make the public gasp. Red into her hands, her dress, the floor. She sighs, letting herself fall upon Romeo’s body.

Natsume can’t help the way his heart skip a beat. He was Wataru’s apprentice, after all, and one can only fill that position for so long without reading Romeo and Juliet.

(In the real play, Juliet digs the dagger right into her stomach.

Wataru looks straight at him when the curtain rises again, and between a bow and another he winks.)

* * *

Someone goes to them after the play is over, just ten minutes or so, and informs Natsume that the main actor has asked for a letter to be delivered to him. Inside the envelope is a reservation for the hotel next to the theater, made four days ago. Natsume frowns, but accepts it nonetheless. Wataru's name does not appear anywhere, but a dove is drawn in elegant lines at one of the corners of the paper.

Natsume goes to find him, because of course he does. Asks the accommodators about him, cast a little spell to make them think he’s really his little brother, tells Subaru to walk back to their room by himself and goes right to the theater’s garden, closed to the public for renovations at the moment.

There’s something magical about the whole place, as if raw energy surrounded the entire building. His skin feels almost itchy when he approaches the garden, white and blue flowers in full bloom under the gentle caress of the moon. And among them, like the protagonist of a classical painting, is Wataru. The light of the stars seem to fall just upon his lonely figure, making him stand out even in this private space untouched by his public and the expectations. 

Natsume would have thought he’s beautiful, if he wasn’t feeling so utterly furious.

“So” he says, trying to keep his expression emotionless. Wataru turns to him with a smile plastered to his face, already raising a hand. Natsume doesn’t even wait to see what is he trying to make appear from thin air. “This is what you’re doing nOW?”

“Ah! Natsume-kun! What a pleasing surprise to meet you here!” And it was a couple of roses. Wataru offers them, still smiling like he doesn't have a worry in the whole world. Natsume takes them, even if he frowns.

“Stop treating me like a chilD, Wataru-niisAN.”

“Oh, but you are so close to pouting, it makes it into a difficult task!” he smiles, broad and as real as the roses. Which means: maybe just a fake to placate him. “Where is that beautiful star of yours, if I’m allowed to ask?”

The stems feel real under his touch, thorns pressing into the soft skin of his fingers. Natsume is sure that he’ll start bleeding if he applies more pressure. At least, if the flowers are real and not only an illusion, as is Wataru’s whole façade.

“You were the one to lend us a rOOM, so take a guESS.” 

Natsume is sure that Subaru would reproach him that answer, saying something along the lines of “Stop avoiding to tell the truth, Natsume!” with that chirping voice of his that drills into his very skull. Natsume hates it.

He also finds himself missing his presence, which is even worse.

“You didn’t answer my question, nii-sAN.” He says, just to keep his mind focused in the conversation. Wataru used to be able to turn every single line that escaped his lips to his favor, and that used to make impossible to hold a serious talk with him. Natsume likes to think that he has grown a little. “I thought you’d be next to your emPEROR, you knoW.” 

“But Natsume! An emperor could never belong to a jester, now, could he?” Wataru seizes him up for a second, eyes bright and smile blinding. He always manages to look distant and ethereal, even when Natsume would only have to reach for him to touch him.

The problem is, probably, that he still loves Wataru deeply.

The problem is that he still considers him a brother. Because betrayal, as much as it might hurt, can never slice bonds made of the sweet memories of his youth.

But Natsume looks at him, really looks at him, and what flows through his veins is something bitter, venom that bites at his chest and his lungs, making his whole body feel in flames. Because he knows, everyone does, that Wataru is still by Tenshouin’s side. As if he didn’t destroy their lives, as if he wasn’t the tyrant that rules over a market that once belonged to the five of them, as if it was _fine_.

So he changes the subject, if only because he missed Wataru fiercely, in a way that aches and freezes the pit of his stomach.

“How did you know what he IS?”

Wataru doesn’t need him to specify who is he talking about. He never does.

“Because I’m your very own Wataru Hibiki, of course!” he says, and opens his arms wide. Natsume knows that it’s probably because Wataru was the one to teach him the spell he’s using to conceal Subaru’s gleam in the first place, but keeps his lips shut. “The fact that you’re here, and with someone as eerie as a star, is its own kind of magical, Natsume! No, I might even dare to affirm that is AMAZING!”

Natsume rolls his eyes, even when there’s a smile tugging at the end of his lips. Wataru is suddenly surrounded by lillie’s petals, and Natsume is not sure if they’re real this time, or just an illusion - that’s always hard to say, when it comes to him. They used to compare his magic to that of a god, after all. 

“How are you going to continue the story, I wonder? Will you eat his heart to obtain the so-called immortality, like a true witch of the old?”

“Immortality is not what I care abOUT, Wataru-niisan.”

“Of course not! Something as feeble as eternal life is not enough for you!” Wataru turns, hair fluttering into Natsume’s nose. His arms are open wide, raised to the night sky. “Is power what you’re after, I wonder? Or maybe love?”

Natsume fixes him with a stare made of steel, edge sharp as a knife. Wataru’s smile doesn’t even flinch.

“We already live for a while, don’t wE.” Natsume says. He ponders the option of turning back now, leaving Wataru behind full of doubts without telling him a word about his plan. But this is his equal, his friend, his brother - and Natsume can feel his voice spilling from his lips before he can even help himself. “The power some use to achieve the eternity - I want it to open a portAL.” he looks straight into the other’s eyes, as if daring him to voice an objection. “I’m bringing my mommy bACK.”

Wataru smiles turns into something that borders on dangerous, even if it doesn’t change on the surface - Natsume can feel it in the air around them, the way the whole atmosphere seems to constrict around him for a second before letting go. 

“And what will become of the second act of the story? Will you go looking into the underworld for him?”

Natsume feels his whole body tense. He eyes Wataru, expression cautious. He can feel something squirm into his chest. Something slippery and ugly that he has tried to keep asleep. It reeks of fear and doubt. Natsume mentally repeats himself: My will is not weak. It will not break. 

“A circular narrative like that would result in a rather boring storY, niisan.”

“But Natsume! Like Orpheus and Eurydice, tragic love prevails in time! The yearning for each other as they face the odds and destiny itself together, one could name it as something even...AMAZING!”

Natsume grimaces. That’s exactly where Wataru is wrong, he thinks. Because there’s no love in this story - only a treason in the making. And when Subaru is rotting in whatever hell the universe has in store for him, then maybe the thing twitching inside his chest will fall into a deep slumber once again.

* * *

Subaru is awake when Natsume comes back, sitting in the bed, face turned towards the sky, gaze lost in the infinite dance of the stars.

Natsume walks into the room and looks at him for a second that feels like lifetimes. He thinks of his mother’s eyes, her touch, her voice. The details of it all are starting to get blurred by the time, by their separation, but the ache still feels fresh. He misses her like the first day they dragged her away.

Subaru talks of the moon with the same kind of sorrowful nostalgia.

“I don’t have a babylon candle anymorE” he says out loud, even if he shouldn’t. The words escape his lips before he can control them, and the thing of his chest jumps at them, claps, dances into his ribcage. Natsume wants to kill it.

“I know.” Subaru answers. He doesn’t turn, but Natsume can almost physically feel the smile painted into his face. It should concern him, how easy is to be affected by this boy, because part of the rigidity leaves his body. “I’m not stupid, Natsume!”

“Allow me to doubt thAT.” He doesn’t move away from the door, hand still on the knob, nails tapping idly against the metal. “Why are you still here, tHEN?”

It’s a brainless question. Maybe he’s hoping for Subaru to try and run away, so he can take his heart in the fright of the battle. Quick and brutal, a knife cutting through skin and breaking apart the bone, _crack, crack, crack_ , like broken glass piercing into his own lungs. It’s somehow harder to breathe.

The shrinking heart of a scared, pitiful star is weaker, but maybe still enough. It is definitely better than none.

“The boy who played as Romeo was talking to me for awhile. He’s so stiff out stage! Up there, he looked like a prince, didn’t he?” The moonlight spilling through the window shines against him, but it pales in comparison to Subaru’s own light, dim in the dark of the room, but still enough to allow Natsume to see every detail. His jacket, half shrugged off his shoulders, the bright orange of his hair, the shape of his nose when he starts to turn, the deep blue of his irises. And not for the first time, Natsume thinks: The sky took form and blood and flesh, and it was born into him. “He said a star’s heart is very valuable. Said that some people want to eat it raw, you know?” 

Natsume doesn’t move an inch. He waits. Waits for Subaru to throw himself at him, to wrap slender fingers around his neck, to try to fill him with magic until his own body can’t take anymore and he explodes in a supernova of hatred, to reveal a knife from between the blankets and stab him once, twice, twenty times. _Crack, crack, crack,_ and Natsume would deserve it.

“And what did you sAY?”

“That I already knew, of course~” Subaru sing-songs. “We see things from up there, you know? Saw it happen a few times already and everything.”

He has imagined how a heart would taste. Had thought about trying to chew the muscle, about blood running down his chin and into his neck, about the hedor of iron and death infiltrating his nose until it becomes everything he will ever be able to smell again. Maybe Subaru has spent the last hour fantasizing about the crime, too. 

“So, let me ask you agaIN” Natsume steels himselfs, prepares to call upon magic. Subaru stands up, and what can the sky do against him? People said he was too powerful, once. Called him (called them, the five of them) monsters. And Natsume has learned not to yield without a fight - not anymore, not again. Subaru takes a step in his direction, then another, not an inch of doubt, still softly gleaming. “why are you still here, Baru-kUN?”

That’s when Subaru smiles, and for a second Natsume forgets about magic and spells and curses, even when there’s a hand reaching for him, fingers spreading against his cheek, a whisper fanning against his nose.

“Natsume.” Subaru says, and the whole universe stops to listen. “You’re a very kind person, aren’t you?” 

Natsume frowns. Subaru’s there, almost nose to nose, chest to chest, too close, too intimate, too open to an attack. He knows this is the perfect opportunity, the heart of a star offered in a silver plate.

_Will you go looking into the underworld for him?_

“I am, most undeniably, nOT.”

Subaru, this infuriating, maddening boy, smiles even more. He’s glowing even more as his fingers close around Natsume’s jersey. Then he takes a step back, another, until the back of his knees hit the mattress.

Natsume falls atop of him. Doesn’t even ponder the idea of using the position to land the final blow, which is kind of disrespectful to his own intellect. 

“Why are you heRE?” he repeats, nothing if not consistent. Subaru hooks an ankle around his leg, takes his wrist and moves his hand until it is pressing flat upon his heart, _thump, thump, thump_ instead of _crack, crack, crack_. Alive and warm and comforting.

“I thought you were the smart one?” Subaru says, voice teasing. His light is scattered around the room, reflecting on the windows, the lamp, the amulets hanging from Natsume’s neck. There’s too much for it to even create a shadow, and Natsume can’t find his on the wall. Subaru pulls him in before he can try, anyway. “Take a guess, Natsume.”

(He has thought how a heart would taste. And then, maybe once, about his lips, about his skin under his tongue, smiles against his neck.

It's much sweeter than he could ever have imagined. Subaru breathes a whole universe into his lungs.

They don’t leave the bed until morning comes.)

* * *

They’re not happy for a while.

There’s still too much for them to do. Natsume, greedy as he is, wants everything, wants the whole world. Maybe some of the sky, too. And he wakes up, lovebites marking his neck, melted gold into his eyes, and says: “We’re going to the Market.”

Subaru, of course, follows.

Natsume won’t settle for a lover and no mother. He won’t be satisfied by her kiss on the temple and an empty bed, either. And the thing is: his resolve is still strong enough to hold up the world.

(Subaru says: _Just call it ‘love’ already, Natsume_ , and earns himself a silencing spell that last at least two hours.)

The journey takes two days. They don’t kiss again, but Natsume doesn’t slap his hand away when Subaru laces their fingers together. The silence is filled by the soft rattle of the train and the humming coming from Subaru’s throat, and soon Natsume’s head is falling against his shoulder, surely against his own will. Subaru keeps singing, a charming lullaby for the witch that tried to hunt him down once. 

(“I felt it when you fell” Hokuto had said in the room, voice stern and cautious. “You were bright into my mind, like a lighthouse. I’m sure it was the same for every sorcerer in the country - too much magic, too much power to ignore it.” He looked at him then, eyes full of a deep kind of worry that moved Subaru to his very core. “That masked pervert said it was your heart.”

“Aah? So that’s how they find us the first time?” Subaru let himself fall into the bed, pouting. Hokuto shot him an exasperated glare that made him smile then. It felt overly familiar, for someone he had just met.

“But now it’s not there” he added, voice pensative. “It was like silver lightning, but now it’s like a ghost. Like an ember instead of a forest fire.”

Subaru shrugged. He wondered how could the answer not be obvious, not be written all over his face. Maybe he was bad at feelings, after all. He thought he had gotten the catch of it, after the fall - everything felt more real in this world, dim and dangerous as it was.

“Maybe it’s because it’s not mine anymore, prince.”

“Don’t call me that.” Hokuto retorted, and again - it felt like a routine, even when it wasn’t. He pressed his lips in a thin line, voice full of silent warnings. “It is said that witches usually break it, or use it, or lose it. Maybe it was against your best interest, to give it so freely.”

“Said by who?”

Hokuto shook his head. Subaru couldn’t help but smile. “Well, anyway.” he said. “what else can I do, right?”

Hokuto, heart of gold and too worried for a stranger for his own good, offered him his phone number. Subaru hugged him tight afterwards, until his light engulfed them. Until it felt as if they both were stars, sparkling valiantly in the sky. Somehow, it felt right. Somehow, it was a pieze of the puzzle sliding perfectly into its place.)

When they arrive to the Market, night has already fallen like a blanket upon its streets. The lanterns and streetlights gleam in the dark, like a night sky brought to earth. They still feel distant and cold to Natsume, like the last remains of an old nightmare. Subaru suddenly takes in a sharp breath, says “I didn’t think it would be this _ugly_.”

Natsume can’t help but grin. Under the starry sky, he lets the fallen star take his hand.

They are not happy. Not yet.

But they will be, at some point. That's how fairytales go, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then they remembered that Subaru is an unlimited power source, and that Natsume is probably the most powerful with of their generation, and they open the damn portal. But this was supposed to be short, and I had already gotten too carried away with it. Also, I hate english. My vocabulary is too limited to write any enstars character, ESPECIALLY Wataru Hibiki. Ugh.
> 
> ...Anyway, now it's time for some self promo: Since they work perfectly as indepent pieces, I won't be using a collection for now, but this is the prelude for 'Cast me a spell', which is set five years after this fic! So I'd be thrilled if you decided to check that out too! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> /appears one month late with a Starbucks.
> 
> Life's been kicking me in the face lately but...I'm super excited with this AU. And it links with my next longfic. And Nike's been helping me with it tons, which always motivates me. And I don't know, Sometimes you just want Natsume's to be a literal magical beging whose eyes shine when he unleashes his power. Sue me.


End file.
